A Longer Shelf Life for You or Your Food?

Peter Koutoujian and Dr. Walter Willet

Saturday

Apr 26, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 26, 2008 at 7:46 PM

More and more Americans are beginning to try and live healthier lifestyles; trying to eat right, to look and feel good, avoid illnesses and live long, active lives. Not one of us wants to develop heart disease.

More and more Americans are beginning to try and live healthier lifestyles; trying to eat right, to look and feel good, avoid illnesses and live long, active lives. Not one of us wants to develop heart disease. Not one of us wants to battle high blood pressure or cholesterol. Not one of us wants to be diagnosed with diabetes. We try to watch what we eat knowing that by making smart dietary choices we greatly reduce the risk of developing a debilitating medical condition. With the busy lives we lead today those smart dietary choices are not always easy. But if we truly want to improve our chances for good health, one step is perfectly clear: we must eliminate the presence of trans fat in our diet.

Trans fat is an artificial additive that has been used over the past fifty years to increase the shelf-life of food. In the early 1990s, questions were raised concerning the health risks associated with its use. Doctors and nutritionists saw a link between the presence of trans fat in a person's diet and the likelihood of developing lifelong illnesses like heart disease. The medical community has continued to investigate trans fat, and the evidence against it has mounted. Now the jury is in, and the unanimous verdict is that trans fat is just plain dangerous.

There are three indisputable facts about the hazardous affects of trans fat: it increases "bad" cholesterol while reducing "good" cholesterol; it has no nutritional value; and it is directly linked to an increased risk of heart disease. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have estimated that artificial trans fat causes roughly 50,000 fatal heart attacks per year. That is a startling statistic and wake up call to everyone. This artificial additive is a triple threat, and it must go.

We must decide how to best eliminate trans fat from our food supply. Once the dangers of this artificial additive were exposed, several forward-thinking corporate citizens voluntarily removed it from their products. Here in Massachusetts, local restaurant icons Legal Seafood, Au Bon Pain, and Dunkin Donuts led by example. National industry leaders like Frito-Lay and Kraft have switched to healthier trans-free oils as have many national food chains, including KFC, Wendy's, Subway and Panera Bread. These companies came to the conclusion that providing a healthier product is cost effective and good for business.

Still, many companies have not stopped using trans fats. This public health threat is too great to continue to depend on voluntary individual action. The Massachusetts Legislature needs to protect the public's health by passing legislation to restrict the presence of trans fats in food eaten at our restaurants and hotels.

Some municipalities have already taken steps to protect the public health in their communities. Major metropolitan areas that rely on restaurants and other food-related industries such as our own City of Boston have recently voted to ban trans fat. Other cities that have led the charge include New York City and Philadelphia. A recent 7News/Suffolk University poll showed that that two-thirds of Massachusetts voters support legislative efforts to restrict the use of trans fat.

We applaud the many restaurants, large and small, that are leading by example and voluntarily removing trans fats. Eliminating this harmful product is good for our health, good for business and good public policy. It is time to ban trans fat in Massachusetts. That is why we urge the Legislature to be the first state in the nation to protect the public's health by getting trans fat out of our restaurants.

Representative Peter Koutoujian is the House Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Health in the Massachusetts Legislature. He represents the 10th Middlesex District including portions of Waltham, Watertown and Newton.

Dr. Walter Willett - Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition Chair, Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

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